


In Reverse

by Wonderlandleighleigh



Series: Boarding School Buddies [30]
Category: Agent Carter (TV), Batman (Comics), Castle, Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: A brief Alfred Pennyworth Appearance, Gen, Mentions of Martha Rodgers, Mentions of Richard Castle - Freeform, Mentions of edwin jarvis, mentions of Howard Stark - Freeform, mentions of emily Gilmore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-08
Updated: 2016-03-08
Packaged: 2018-05-25 13:19:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6196577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wonderlandleighleigh/pseuds/Wonderlandleighleigh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peggy Carter, the Boarding School Buddies, in reverse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Reverse

Bruce Wayne smiles vapidly. “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about, Ms. Carter.” 

Peggy Carter sips her tea. “Thank you, Alfred. This is lovely.” She smiles polite to the butler, before pinning Wayne with an incredibly underwhelmed look. “Don’t think I don’t know where you’ve been, Bruce. We’ve been keeping tabs on you.” 

Bruce shrugs. “I was mostly in Italy. I spent some time in France and-” 

“Tibet,” Peggy finishes. “Japan. I believe you spent a little time in South America. Bruce, you’ve trained with the best. SHIELD is interested.” 

“Well, I’m not interested in SHIELD,” Bruce tells her, dropping the act. “Why not go talk to Tony? He’s a legacy candidate.” 

“I love Tony dearly,” Peggy tells him. “I really do. But while you’re vapidity is an act, I’m afraid at least a good portion of his might be real.” 

Bruce sighs softly. “It’s not that I don’t appreciate the offer, Ms. Carter. I do. But my goals are more...locally-centered. This city needs my help. This is where I belong.” 

Peggy sighs, but smiles sadly. “If you change your mind, you know where to find me.” 

***** 

“I can’t even believe they let you up here,” Lorelai says as she paces the bedroom in her parents’ house. There’s a bassinet in the corner, where an infant makes happy sounds, and Peggy can tell that this girl is…

Well, she’s a lot of things. 

Peggy had been planning on offering this girl a job once she finished high school, but she can’t do that now, because this girl is now a mother at the age of sixteen, and whatever future Lorelai Victoria Gilmore may have been dreaming before her pregnancy has been upended, replaced by…

Four walls, in a very big, very unwelcoming house. 

“I’m very persuasive,” Peggy says. “And your mother remembers me from dinner parties at the Starks’ house. I think she’s under the impression that I’m here to talk some sense into you.” 

“Is that why you’re here?” Lorelai asks, sitting down. 

“Yes,” Peggy says. “But not in the way your mother hopes.” 

Lorelai tilts her head, frowning. 

“Lorelai, you are very young. Technically, you are still a child. But you now have a child of your own, which means it is time to grow up.” 

“I’m not marrying Christopher,” Lorelai snaps. “I don’t-” 

“No one ever said that growing up meant getting married,” Peggy tells her. “And in fact, in your case that would be quite the opposite, because your parents would be in control of your entire life if you got married. You’d live here, you’d do exactly what they say and your daughter would be raised exactly how they want her to be.” 

Lorelai gives a visible, full-body shudder. 

“You have to decide what is best for you and your daughter,” Peggy tells her. “This is your life, and these are your choices. No one else’s. You got pregnant by accident. That does not mean that your entire life is ruined. It means it’s different. It’s up to you what that means.” 

***** 

Peggy lifts a black umbrella over Tony’s head, shielding him from the rain. “Here we are. That’s better. Now you’re not getting rained on, silly boy.” 

Tony looks down and rubs an eye. He’s fifteen, and the man who practically raised him has passed away.

Peggy wraps an arm around him, pulling him close. The service had been lovely, but it’s been over for an hour, and Howard hadn’t made it. Maria had shown up, but Tony had insisted on staying behind, and Maria needed to be back at the house for the wake. 

She rubs his shoulder. “Did I ever tell you about all the adventures that Mr. Jarvis and I had in New York and Los Angeles after the war?” 

Tony shakes his head. 

Peggy sniffles a little, already missing her long-time friend. “Then we have a lot to talk about. He was a daft, brave man, our Mr. Jarvis. And he adored you, and he’d be thrilled for you to know all about all his exploits.” 

***** 

Jackson Hunt sighs heavily. “Just...do me the one favor, Carter.” 

Peggy nods. “I'll keep an eye on Martha and the baby. You just stay alive.” 

“I’m never gonna see them again,” Hunt says. “So I don’t know how much it matters.” 

“Have a bit of faith, Hunt,” Peggy says, grinning a little. “Never say never ever.”


End file.
